"You have brought us a…"
Eknie put her tongue visibly between her teeth. Had the tongue been forked, she would have resembled a snake in her green boots and her green casual dress.
"A supporter of the cause, another who wishes to see homeless meteorologists do well," Ted said, knowing his friend was capable of discerning when to keep a straight face.
They were in a tea house just outside the harbor area, enjoying the third occasion of refreshing drinks on that day. Eknie had no reason to do anything sensible today. She always said that education was her first priority, and Ted was very educative. So, there was no reason for her to bother her pretty head with a day job.
"I am terrified of what is going to happen if we let the meteorologists die on the streets." Junior shook his head.
At least he was sincere in his madness. Had it been anyone else hearing that same lie about homeless meteorologists, and had anyone else been the one telling the recipient of the lie about them, there would have been no sinister deals made, but Ted was just that good and Junior was just that stupid.
"You really need to house them somewhere, Mr. Tobias, and I don't think you necessarily want them to live at your place," Junior said, taking loud sips of his tea like the uncivilized idiot he was. "No offense meant, but a homeless person is still a homeless person, regardless of education."
Ted was glad that all the details were revealed to Eknie with Junior talking about it like it was the most normal and expected thing ever to have a crowd of homeless meteorologists as one's responsibility. This way, Ted would not have to brief Eknie in a way that could reveal the false nature of his claims.
"While I do not want to sound cruel, my dear Junior is quite right," Eknie said, dabbing her lipstick with a handkerchief as if she had been truly concerned about its placement. In fact, she was not, ever – this was something that Ted knew from watching her behavior for years. She wanted to look good because she wanted to use her appearance, and definitely not the other way around.
Eknie was so much fun to observe and analyze.
"I agree. It might be that I have not thought this all the way through." Ted frowned, but the emotion was fake. He did not feel overly concerned about any meteorologists, fictional or real.
What he was stressed about was the sheer amount of legwork associated with harnessing the energy of ten thousand people. He would have to find a way to delegate the recruiting process to dedicated cultists, but this was something that all cults did. Once he had a system in place to rank people as lesser and better, he would also have a method of motivating them to climb up the spiritual ladder. Said ladder was, of course, an entirely fictional one. What the solar deity did with the souls involved was its own business. From the general hostile presence it had appeared as, Ted suspected that the process would not be pleasing to the owners of the souls.
"So, when do we start?" Junior chirped.
"Right away. We need to find a building for the poor sods." Ted drank the rest of his tea, forcing his companions to guzzle down theirs, even though the temperature of the green tea was probably still close to scalding.
While some people were surely inconsiderate out of ignorance and not malice, Ted did these little things because he genuinely enjoyed causing discomfort and even pain to others. It was all too easy for people like Junior to slip into the trap of mirroring Ted's movements, of walking according to Ted's pace, and Theidore Kranich Tobias did not think for a second that he had any real foothold in the realm of those ingenious minds that had truly earned such treatment.
Ted was evil, that was what he based his superiority on.
He took the lead in taking his meager group of supporters to the abandoned factory that he had strongly considered as the base for his cult.
They were greeted by a man in his fifties with suspicion in his eyes and a dark frown on his face.
"What is your business here?" The fellow gripped something inside his coat.
Ted had to assume the worst, that the item was a gun, and he proceeded to throw his hands up as a fake sign of submission.
"We are looking to buy or rent any large building. I know there are a few vacant ones here. After all, the mass production of those undergarments did not go as well as expected, did it, now?"
"You have a basic understanding of the current news, all right," the man said, still not taking his hand out of his coat.
"There'll be more room for negotiations if outright hostility is put to rest," Ted said softly, still keeping his hands where the man could see them. "Do you happen to be the landlord?"
"I am both the landlord and the former owner of the business." The man sighed and pulled his hand out. "Might as well give up. I was going to rent the space for a new company, but I have been waiting here all week. Seems like they do not respect my time enough to inform me they decided to retreat…"
"Well, then we can hopefully talk about an arrangement that will not leave you hanging," Ted said and let a cautious smile reach his eyes. "Owning property is taxing in many ways. I would know. I am Ted Tobias."
"I am…did you say Tobias? Cor, I am terribly sorry. I did not recognize you. I had it in my head that you would have fair hair for some reason."
Ted let the real amusement he felt push through as relaxed laughter.
"I have those impressions, too. I have an image of – this us almost too funny to speak of…for some reason I think the Diamond King is obese. And everyone knows he is lean as a wolf. I think it is due to the paintings of the Emerald King."
Now the man joined the laughter. "I am John Sildrain. Nice to meet you, cor Tobias. Come look at the building. I swear it costs a fortune to me to upkeep."